Caring Cockermouth school shortlisted for top national award

Fairfield Primary School is up for Pastoral Care School of the Year in the National Awards for Pastoral Care in Education (NAPCE).

“We are absolutely delighted to have this national recognition for our bespoke pastoral care offer,” said deputy headteacher Jordan Gale, who leads pastoral care provision in the school.

“We are immensely proud of this achievement and it is a testimony to the nurturing environment we uphold at Fairfield and, of course, our extensive offer of pastoral provision delivered by a highly effective team.”

“At Fairfield, we strive to have a full understanding of the wide range of pastoral needs of the children in our care in order to provide them with the most appropriate support,” said Mr Gale.

“Effective pastoral care is not only reactive, but needs to be proactive and preventative. To this end, we work hard to build respectful and trusting relationships with the whole school community so everyone coming into contact with a child has a bigger picture of their needs.

“This was never more evident than during the lockdowns, when we offered virtual pastoral care and continued with in-person counselling sessions.”

The school believes ‘children need human not heroic role-models, trusted adults who model how to manage the challenges of day-to-day life’.

“Our values assemblies, bespoke relationships and health education curriculum and well-being workshops enable children to understand and begin to deal with their own feelings, develop their own social and emotional resilience and recognise how to maintain their physical and mental wellbeing,” said Mr Gale.

The school has a trained school counsellor who provides one-to-one pastoral support for children with more specific mental health issues, or those requiring focused emotional support.

It also offers ‘Draw and Talk’ therapy. Nurture Group provision, in Reception and Key Stage 1, helps the school to provide focussed intervention for particular emotional, social, mental health or behavioural difficulties, said Mr Gale.

The Nurture Group received a letter from the Queen last week to congratulate them on their fundraising efforts and the celebrations they held for the Platinum Jubilee

“For us, safeguarding is a huge part of what makes up effective pastoral care here at Fairfield.

“We pride ourselves on providing effective and expansive pastoral care and emotional support.

“We endeavour to ensure that children develop their personal strengths, confidence, resilience and understanding of self in order to progress emotionally, socially and educationally.”

The awards will be held in Worcestershire in October.

Schools join forces: https://www.timesandstar.co.uk/news/20026364.cockermouth-primary-schools-join-forces/